Greeks Knight David Beckham
Well not really, but the announcer at the flame handover ceremony in Athens yesterday, added Sir to David Beckham’s name at every opportunity. Perhaps with all their troubles, the Greeks may be following the Albanians, who famously offered CB Fry the throne, by knighting him and hoping he’ll give them a bit of publicity. The whole episode is reported in the Independent.
Made In Eccles and Protecting The Olympic Flame
The problem is how do you transport an Olympic flame from Greece to the UK.
The answer is you use a version of the Davy lamp, developed by Sir Humphry Davy and others in the first two decades of the nineteenth century.
A Miners Safety Lamp Made in Eccles
All proper Davy lamps are made in Eccles and my version in the picture is an earlier version of that used for the Olympics. They use a modified version of the 6S lamp. Mine is a version 6 and it was bought in a junk shop in Liverpool.
If you want to find out more about the lamp used, there’s a lot of information here on the maker’s web site.
Sir Humphry must be laughing his socks off in his grave. Especially, as this year’s Olympic Torch Relay will start in Cornwall, the county of his birth.
Burglars Pick On Wrong Pensioner
Two thugs hit Michael Mather, 77, over the head and tried to burgle him. But they had done their research badly and hadn’t found out he’d sparred with Henry Cooper and the Krays. They didn’t come out of it well, as the Standard reports.
Greece Runs Out of Umbrellas
Poor Greece! They thought they’d stage a spectacular ceremony for the handover of the flame. And guess what? It rains!
They’re now giving a demonstration of what a tenor sounds like in the rain!
Harringay Can’t Go To The Dogs Anymore!
A s child, I used to go here to the Harringay Arena to see the ice shows. There was also a dog and speedway track called Harringay Stadium. Now all that remains is the name, in that of the large retail park.
Where’s the Dog Track?
With the recent loss of Walthamstow dog track to developers and the abandoning of horse racing at Alexandra Palace, life has lost some excitement in that area of North London.
My great-uncle Charlie, who introduced me to cider lived somewhere locally. He had been some sort of minor official in the colonies.
Ian Fleming Would Have Been Amused
It is being reported in the Evening Standard tonight, that James Bond will be knighted by the Queen and then will help to launch the Olympic Games. No doubt, Danny Boyle’s short film that shows this, will of course be narrated by Henry Blofield, who is the son of Ian’s friend, Tom Blofield, who is often said to have lent his surname to Bond’s arch-enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
C used to appear in front of Henry Blofield’s brother, John, who used to be a judge in Norwich. He was one of her favourite judges.
We also bought a house from Daniel Craig’s stepfather, Maxwell Blond.
But all this is just a typical Fleming plot!
An Appropriate Punishment for Mr. Brooks
There has been a straw poll of horses in Lambourn about what would be an appropriate punishment for Mr. Brooks, if he should be found guilty.
Ninety percent said he should be gelded. The rest said neigh.
The Best UK Football Team Ever
The BBC are having a bit of fun here, naming the best UK side ever in front of the Olympics. These are all players, that I’ve seen play live, so those whose careers ended nefore about 1958 are out.
What surprises me, is the number of times Danny Blanchflower is mentioned in proposed teams, probably in many cases by people, who never saw him play. To my mind, he was the best I ever saw and would be made captain of my side.
The goalkeeper picks himself and there is no-one to rival another Ulsterman, Pat Jennings.
The right-back is a difficult one with Viv Anderson, George Cohen, Jimmy Armfield, Chris Lawler and Gary Neville. I will choose George, as we don’t win tournaments without a Cohen in the side.
One centre-back, Bobby Moore, picks himself and you can choose anyone from Billy Wright, Jack Charlton, Tony Adams, Billy McNeill and Terry Butcher. I was going to put Joleon Lescott in the list, until I saw the mistake he made this afternoon against QPR. I never saw Duncan Edwards play. So it has to be Terry Butcher, if only for his England performance against Sweden in qualifying for the World Cup.
The left-backs must include Ray Wilson, Stuart Pearce, Ashley Cole and Kenny Samson. I think I’ll take Ashley Cole.
I would choose the best midfield three I ever saw in it’s entirety; Blanchflower, John White and Dave Mackay. I saw that midfield many times and even some of the great sides we’ve seen in the last few years, could not have coped with the skill and intelligence of Blanchflower and White and the power of Mackay. They also weren’t short in the goal-scoring department.
I’ve always liked a speedy players to open up defenses and I’ve seen three of the best; Gareth Bale, Ryan Giggs and Cliff Jones. It’s not funny they’re all Welsh, as there have been large numbers of Welsh sprinters in athletics. In football, Leighton James was another fast left winger. Perhaps, the Welsh are just looking for the next world-beating successor to J J Williams et al. Incidentally, I believe Cliff Jones used to play some amateur rugby after he retired from football. Any one will do in truth, but I would take Gareth Bale.
That leaves me with two to play up front. They often go best in pairs, like John Toshack and Kevin Keegan, Alan Gilzean and Jimmy Greaves or currently Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck. On the other hand you have those like George Best and Gary Lineker, who very much worked indepoendently of the rest of the team. A lot of strikers too have problems and of course some are very selfish. I think that I’d put Rooney and Greaves up front. It would be an interesting experiment.
Obviously, you can disagree with my choice, but Blanchflower must stay as captain.
Germany v Greece
If things work out right, Germany will play Greece on June 22nd in Euro 2012 in the midst of a Greek General Election.
What fun?
Using An Ipswich Bobble Hat as a Passport
This post was brought about by Danny Baker asking on Radio 5, if anybody had any stories about getting into football matches.
The spring after C died, I took a holiday in Italy, mainly to see if I could holiday by myself.
Whilst staying in Florence, I found out that Fiorentina were playing a home game against Livorno.
It was a bit of a performance to get the ticket, as I had to go to the cafe, opposite the ground and buy it from the owner. To do this, I needed a credit card and my passport. The latter was duly copied before the ticket was issued.
Before the match, I decided that it would be best just to take a few euros and the ticket, as I wasn’t sure, if Italian football crowds had the odd pickpocket.
When I approached the gate to get into the ground, I was approached and frisked by a steward, who demanded my passport.
As I didn’t fancy the long walk back to the hotel, I protested and finally decided to point to the badge on the Ipswich bobble-hat I was wearing, saying Inglesi repeatedly and loud at the time.
He forgot about the passport and I was let through.
The Anonymous Widower 